Weather Blog: Snowy President's Day ahead

Thank you for stopping by the Weather Watch 12 blog! A winter storm will take aim at Wisconsin for President's Day. In today's blog we discuss the timing and possible snow totals. Also, a unique look at Lake Superior ice from space!

Let's start with an impressive number...38. That is the number of days with measurable snow(0.1" or more) so far this winter in Milwaukee. If you are someone that shovels for a dusting or more of snow, you likely have shoveled at least 38 times this winter! If you are curious, the most days with measurable snow in a winter is 52 during the winter of 1978-79.

Another measurable snow is in the forecast for Monday. This system should have more moisture to work with and also slightly warmer temperatures. Increased moisture will lead to higher snow totals, likely the biggest snow so far in February. And the warmer temperatures to a heavier, wetter snow -- translating to a heavier snow to shovel.

Looking at timing...snow should arrive in southeast Wisconsin Monday morning. Anytime after 6-7am some pockets of light snow are possible. The main area of snow should hold off until closer to 10am. The earlier you can commute on Monday the better, but overall only light snow or no snow should impact the morning commute as of this writing.

Futurecast below is valid at 10am Monday. This shows darker colors west and north of Milwaukee representing a steady snow. The steady snow overspreads the metro area by late morning.

Once the snow arrives it will pick up in intensity. A 2-3 hour window of heavy snow is likely Monday afternoon. Futurecast below shows heavy snow over Waukesha, Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha around 3pm. The best chance for heavy snow will occur between noon and 3:30pm.

Snow should taper off from west to east between 4-6pm. Final snow totals should fall in the range of 3"-5" for most of our viewing area. Weather Watch 12 will continue to fine tune the forecast in the hours leading up to the snow. Make sure to watch 12 News at 5:30 & 10pm and then Monday morning for the latest data.

Once the snow begins please post your weather reports and snow totals to the Wisconsin Weather Updates Facebook page, just click here to 'like' the page. We may use your snow total on one of our WISN 12 newscasts!

Before we wrap up today's entry I want to show you a unique view of ice on Lake Superior. The visible satellite image from Sunday morning is shown below. The milky color over Lake Superior is ice or snow covering the ice. Pockets of open water(dark colors) on the northeast side of the lake are labeled. As you can see the lake is almost entirely frozen!

For the latest weather information watch WISN 12 News, and for updates throughout the day follow me on Twitter @jnelsonweather

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